Kyle Anderson, a member of the Kolligian family, congratulates Maj. Brady Augustin after presenting him the 2022 Koren Kolligian Jr. Trophy at the Pentagon in Arlington, Va., Feb. 7, 2024. (Eric Dietrich/U.S. Air Force)
NAPLES, Italy — At 10,000 feet in the skies above Aviano Air Base in Italy and with the left main landing wheel missing from his F-16CM Fighting Falcon, Maj. Brady Augustin had a big decision to make.
The 2009 graduate of the U.S. Air Force Academy could have chosen to eject. The $27 million jet would have crashed and potentially hurt others on the ground. Or, he could attempt a risky gear-up landing at the base.
That choice had to be made quickly — the plane’s fuel was running low.
Augustin, then an F-16 flight instructor for the 31st Operations Support Squadron, ultimately landed the jet on its belly during the March 2022 incident, the Air Force said in a statement earlier this month.
“It was an incredibly unusual circumstance that had a lot of different ways that it could have gone poorly quickly,” Augustin said in the statement. But “we were able to salvage (it into) a somewhat normal crash landing and save an airplane, and we all made it home that night.”
A U.S. Air Force F-16 Fighting Falcon lands at Spangdahlem Air Base, Germany in 2020. Maj. Brady Augustin landed an F-16 on its belly during a March 2022 incident where the plane lost its left main landing wheel. Augustin received the 2022 Koren Kolligian Jr. Trophy for his efforts, during a ceremony at the Pentagon on Feb. 7, 2024. (Preston Cherry/U.S. Air Force)
Air Force Chief of Staff Gen. David W. Allvin speaks with Maj. Brady Augustin and Adelaide Augustin after the pilot was awarded the 2022 Koren Kolligian Jr. Trophy at the Pentagon, Arlington, Va., Feb. 7, 2024. The flight safety award recognized Augustin’s feat of airmanship for safely performing a gear-up landing in his F-16 fighter aircraft after losing a wheel during takeoff. (Eric Dietrich/U.S. Air Force)
The 2022 Koren Kolligian Jr. Trophy is displayed before being presented to Maj. Brady Augustin at the Pentagon, Feb. 7, 2024. The flight safety award recognized Augustin’s feat of airmanship for safely performing a gear-up landing in his F-16 fighter aircraft after losing a wheel during takeoff. (Eric Dietrich/U.S. Air Force)
Augustin was lauded for his skill, composure and resilience under pressure, receiving the 2022 Koren Kolligian Jr. Trophy during a ceremony at the Pentagon on Feb. 7. The trophy is named for an Air Force pilot who was declared missing after the T-33 Shooting Star he was flying disappeared off the California coast in September 1955.
During takeoff in March 2022, Augustin felt the F-16 settle to the left. Unable to safely abort, he took off and assessed the situation, according to the statement.
Thinking the left landing wheel had simply blown out, Augustin coordinated a conference call with multiple agencies. They determined he should land the plane with the help of an arresting cable, the Air Force said.
But that idea quickly fizzled when crews on the ground subsequently found the aircraft’s main left landing wheel on the runway. Augustin was ordered to abort the planned landing and conduct a low pass in front of the base’s air control tower, according to the statement.
That visual inspection confirmed the wheel on the runway was from the F-16 Augustin was flying. He was given two options: eject or attempt a gear-up landing, the Air Force said.
“Maj. Augustin showed incredible skill and ingenuity in a difficult and dangerous situation,” Air Force Chief of Staff Gen. David Allvin said in the statement.
Allvin added that Augustin “was calm, cool, and collected — exactly what we have come to expect from our aviators” and those who receive the trophy.
